Stanislas Wawrinka Hires A Coach

Written by: Staff on 17th April 2013

Stanislas Wawrinka Hires A Coach

epa03663816 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland returns the ball to Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan during their first round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 16 April 2013. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER |

Stanislas Wawrinka, a player who has always seemed to possess the natural talent to do better than his highest ranking of ninth in the world and best Grand Slam finish of quarterfinals in the Australian and US Opens, has appointed Magnus Norman on a trial basis as coach in an attempt to push him up that extra level.

The 28 year old Swiss, currently ranked world no.17 has been without a permanent coach for more than a year and insists he will work with Sweden’s Norman, previously coach to two times French Open finalist Robin Soderling who is still side-lined with the effects of mononucleosis, primarily leading up to and during the four Grand Slam events.

Wawrinka is no stranger to Swedish coaches after spending 16 months in collaboration with Peter Lundgren, a period that saw him enjoy his best two performances at Melbourne Park and New York’s Flushing Meadows. He was also coached by Dimitri Zavialoff from childhood until a parting of the ways at Wimbledon in 2010.

The Swiss is believed to have considered several high profile advisors in recent months including Goran Ivanisevic and Pat Cash who both sat in his player’s box during January’s Australian Open when he lost out in a colossal five set encounter with eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

Wawrinka, managed by London-based Lawrence Frankopan at Starwing Sports Management, finally elected to try out 36 year-old Norman and said : “I have been eager to work with Magnus for many years now and I’m very excited to finally have that opportunity.

“We will explore our relationship through this test period and I have no doubt it will bear fruit with hard work and dedication. I am excited to learn from his experiences. He is a fantastic coach and was a great player, so I only see an upside to this relationship. He most certainly will add a different dimension to my game.”

Recently Norman has been involved in running the Good To Great Tennis Academy alongside fellow former Swedish Davis Cup players Nicklas Kulti and Mikhail Tillstrom who is currently coaching Grigor Dimitrov.

Norman, characteristically a man of few words in the public domain, said: “I hope it will be the start of something very good. As always, it’s important to set the bar high but be humble doing so.”

The Swede, who also coached compatriots Thomas Johansson and Simon Aspelin, was forced to retire prematurely as a player because of hip and knee injuries in 2004. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world no. 2 on June 12, 2000 after finishing runner-up to Gustavo Kuerten at the French Open.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Magnus Norman, Robin Soderling, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Swiss tennis news, Tennis News